Vladimir Putin welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday for talks in the Kremlin that Moscow hopes will provide a diplomatic boost for the Russian leader at a key moment in the war with Ukraine.

The Trump administration has said it wants to pull apart Russia and China, but the two countries need each other too much.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday were set to hold talks in Moscow. According to the Kremlin, the talks between the two leaders were set to focus on the construction of a long-planned second gas export pipeline to China,